Mass Rohingya exodus from Myanmar tests locals and aid groups

Aid workers in Bangladesh are scrambling to help Rohingya Muslims who arrived in the country after violence erupted in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Meeting the needs of such a vast number of people is a logistical nightmare for the Bangladesh government, UN agencies and aid organisations.

The move seems indefinite because there is nowhere else for them to go.

Many refugees are cramped in school yards without tents, tarpaulin sheets and little aid.

Local Bangladeshis say they had never seen anything like it.

"They look very hungry. They said they hadn't eaten for five days. I felt so sad seeing their faces," said Halima Begum, a local Bangladeshi.

The flimsy tents barely keep out the monsoon rains while food is in short supply and sanitation is virtually non-existent.

But for many, it's still better than what they've left behind.

"It was a very difficult journey. As we were trying to escape. The Myanmar army were shooting randomly. We had to swim across the river which was deep," said a Rohingya refugee.

"We were so hungry. It took us eight days to reach the border. I will never return to Myanmar. I would rather die." 

The UN decided on Friday to extend an investigation into abuses committed in Myanmar, especially in Rakhine state, where violence has forced half a million Rohingya Muslims to flee. 

Known as the world's most persecuted minority, the UN chief has called the army crackdown on Rohingya "a text book example of ethnic cleansing."

TRT World's Shamim Chowdhury has more from Cox's Bazaar, Bangladesh.